Thursday at Joy

On Thursday I completed my third week of school! Time really flies here and the weeks go by so fast when you only have four days of class. I’m actually getting nervous by how fast time is going; I wish I could stay here forever. After being good all week and not going out, I decided I deserved a break on Thursday night. My roommate also wanted to go out, a rare occurrence, so we were excited.

It was me, my roommate Maureen, our friend Larissa and her roommate Rachel going-out. They also brought their guy friend Sam, who is also from regular SLU I had just never met him.We decided we were going to go to Joy Esclava, a club in Sol, the big nightlife area of Madrid. It’s a typical college party club and my roommate and I weren’t that keen on going but it was free drinks until 1:30 A.M. and I had never been so we gave it a try.

Before we left we met at the metro stop that all of us girls live closest to, Moncloa, and chilled on this area above it that was actually really pretty. It had an awesome view of the city and it was all lit up at night. I never even knew that area existed.

The girl's minus Rachel (me, my roomie Maureen, and Larissa) on top of our metro station

Another view on top of the metro station

Pretty night view

When we got to the club, like my roommate had warned me, the guys were really handsy and it was extremely crowded. It was not really my thing but I appreciated it for what it was. The club itself was cool, it was three stories and fancy, and it was pretty awesome that we got in for free. We didn’t end up getting any free drinks because we kind of forgot about it but we were all fine with that.

After being there for an hour or so ish, we decided to go get chocolate and churros and then just walk home. The churros were great, as always, they are becoming one of my favorite Spanish delicacies.

After that we just walked home, we only live about 1.5 or so miles away from Sol. On the way back Larissa and Rachel found an abandoned restaurant sign on the sidewalk and randomly decided they wanted it. I took some pics of them with it.

Joy Esclava, super crowded

Another view

Me and My roomie Maureen

Free sign?

21 in Spain

It turned out that my birthday is extra special because another girl from SLU also had here birthday on the same day. I was very happy about that because turning 21 on a Sunday night is kind of a strange night to go out on. We went to the Cave Bar, which is right by where I live and we had a decent sized group, which was good because we were pretty much the only people in the bar. At the Cave Bar you get a free bottle of champagne on your birthday and since it was both of our birthdays’ we got two free bottles. I think the bartender thought it was suspicious that it was both of our birthdays but we both had genuine ID’s which we showed him and then he had no choice. I also shared this drink called Agua de Valencia with my friends, which was pretty good too. My friend Tyler is the best and he basically bought all the drinks and bought three more bottles of champagne. I had a good night though. I was pretty low key and nice.

The next day was my actual birthday and was pretty uneventful. I did wake up feeling older though. I just went to school and saw all my friends again. I got lunch at VIP’s with my friend Samantha and had this brownie with ice cream so it kind of felt like it was cake. When I got home from school I just took a nap as usual and then woke up right before dinner. My host mom is the greatest and she made this really nice dinner. She had the whole family eat with us, (usually it is just me and my three roommate eating together in the kitchen) and she put out a tablecloth and nice china and we all ate in the dining room. It was really adorable. She made a giant pot of paella, these fried cheese ball things that I forgot the name of, tomatoes with olive oil and onions, cheese and bread. It was so cute I very much regret not taking a picture of it.

I figured after dinner we would just have our traditional “dessert” of fruit but she actually bought this cheesecake for me and had “2” and “1” candles lit in it. It was so, so cute. The cake cutter was also musical and played the tunes of happy birthday, here comes the bride, and other celebratory songs. She loved it and kept turning it on but I could tell her son, our host brother, hated it.

Then, when dinner was over and we were clearing off our plates and we were all thanking her for the dinner, she was like “WAIT! WAIT! I have a gift for you! SIT!” When she came back she had a bag from Zara, a really nice store that is very Spanish and she was like “Zara because it is a Spanish store”.  She got me this burgundy red halter-top shirt that was really pretty that she said I could wear out to the “discoteca” and she ever had a gift receipt on it if it was the wrong size. It was so nice of here. I really do believe I have the best host family.

I kind of wanted to go out again but no one else did and everyone was tired from the weekend, but my roomie was just going out casually with some of her friend she she invited me to join. We all just went to McDonald’s but my roomie and I didn’t get anything because we were all stuffed from our dinner. It was a pretty casual night and then I just ended up going to bed at a decent hour and getting some sleep, which was probably what I needed. All in all it was a pretty good birthday. 

Agua de Valencia, don't worry, this was shared

Free Champagne

The whole group

Best friends <3

Birthday girls

Cheers to being 21!

Friendies!

Friends

Happy Birthday to Us!

So many pictures

The girls

Segovia on Sunday

On Sunday I went to Segovia! Segovia is the city of the aqueducts. We left on the bus at 9 am and it was about a 2-hour drive. When we arrive, the first thing we saw this statue of a man holding a plate above what looked like four piglets. It was quite strange. Our tour guide explained that Segovia is known for its food, most specifically lamb and suckling pig, as shown in this statue. The statue is of Candido, a chef famous for his suckling pig, which was so succulent he would slice it with a plate instead of knife. There is a famous restaurant in Segovia named after him and it is also one of the most famous restaurants in Spain. I would have loved to go there but the starting price is supposed to be around 30 Euros, which is not within my dwindling college budget.

After we saw that statue we were free to go get food because our tour guide said we would not eat lunch until pretty late in the day. I went to a little café and got churros con chocolate. It was my first churros with chocolate experience in Spain and it was really good. The churros are different here, they aren’t coated in cinnamon sugar so they aren’t as sweet but they are still sweet enough and slightly crunchy. I really liked them. I thought they were better than U.S. churros because all of that cinnamon sugar disgusts me.

After a quick breakfast we went inside a church. It was very pretty but it reminded me a lot of the church in Toledo. Though they are all very old and interesting, after a while they all start to look the same.

After that we traveled down to the aqueducts, Segovia’s main attraction. They were amazing. Just mesmerizing. The guide said that the aqueducts were built before Christ was even born, so they are over 2000 years old! They are huge and built without any cement or any other material holding them together and the guide said that they would still be functional today, if necessary.

We walked around a lot to just take pictures of the aqueducts and then we climbed up this giant hill and I thought I was going to die. Every time I go on these trips there is extensive climbing involved. This climb was worth it for the view though. It was gorgeous. Segovia is a lovely city. I think I liked it more than Toledo.  

After that climb he wanted all of us to climb down, basically a mountain, for an unknown reason. I later found out it was just solely for picture taking purposes. Looking at the hike down, that would have been hard for an average person, I told the student ambassadors that I couldn’t climb down it and that my friend’s Tyler and Samantha were going to stay with me. The one ambassador girl was super rude and was going to make me climb down the mountain anyway just because she said we “had to stay with the group” even though on the other trips we did not and this was a very legitimate reason to leave the group. With some help for my friends, we finally got her okay but that really pissed me off. They are never really accommodating to me on those SLU day trips and I’m very glad they are over now. The student ambassadors and tour guides have been rude on every one of the trips that I have been on.

So anyways, Tyler and Samantha and I were all very happy to not have to climb down the mountain and we decided we were wanted to go get a tour of the castle, also known as Alcazar. It was 3 Euros or something so we got tickets and went in. Besides the aqueducts it was definitely the highlight of the trip. This castle is also one of the inspirations for Cinderella's castle at Walt Disney World! I don’t know why It wasn’t part of our tour. Walking into the castle was like going back in time to the medieval period and they did a wonderful job preserving the rooms and making it a museum but also making it look like people still lived there. There were also tons of windows that had amazing views of the scenery of Segovia and courtyards.

When we were done with that we go lunch at a place and then met up again with the group to see a cathedral. By this time everyone was exhausted because it was midday, very hot, and many people had been on the day trip yesterday and were just drained. In the cathedral I basically just sat on a church bench the whole time. I didn’t take any pictures because it looked exactly liked Toledo’s cathedral but less impressive.

After too long of a day we finally got back on the bus. I’m glad I went on the trip but I also felt like all of the students on it would agree it was much too long. When I got home I took a nap because that night I was going out for my 21^st birthday!! 

Candido statue with suckling pig

Church in Segovia

First Chocolate and Churros experience, so good!

Aqueducts

Posing with aqueducts

Cadido Restaurant, super famous

All the stairs I had to climb.......

....but worth it for this view

Cathedral of Segovia

Castle of Segovia, Alcazar

Map of Spain

A knight in shining armor?

Pretty Ceilings in the Alcazar Castle

Stained glass

Gold desk thing

A pretty window with my besties

Another window

courtyard, beautiful design

Wandering on Saturday

On Saturday, there was a day trip to Salamanca, another really cool place in Spain where one of the first universities ever was built. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going.  Originally I signed up for this trip but then withdrew from it because I knew I signed up to also go on the trip on Sunday to Segovia and I didn’t think I could do that much walk (its usually more like climbing) two days in a row. I also was more interested in going to Segovia than Salamanca so I decided I will have to go to Salamanca later on my own when I’m in better shape for walking. Since there was the day trip, a lot of my friends were gone and I still wanted to do something. I txted and fb messaged one of my few friends that I knew that wasn’t going on the trip to see if he wanted to just wander the city with me.  I like to wander around Madrid as much as I can just so I can get to know my surroundings better and know where everything is. Its not a terribly large city and I live in a really good location that is pretty close to everything which is awesome.

So I took the metro and met my friend at Gran Via, which is a very famous street in Madrid. Not only does it have a lot of important government buildings but it also has AMAZING shopping! It is supposed to be the Michigan Avenue of Madrid. My main goal for meeting at this location was to find the giant H and M that I had heard lots of people talking about. Spanish style is also so cool and a lot more adventurous than the U.S., which I love because my style is kind of adventurous and wild too.

 So anyways, I found my friend and we just decided to walk down the street and see what we could find. Neither of us knew where we were going and I was assuming he might have a better sense of direction than me, which later proved to be a false assumption. We walked for a while down the street and ended up at Retiro Park again, the same place we both were with our other friends yesterday. Since Retiro is so big we decided to explore it again and we found a lot of new things. There are tons of old buildings in there with lots of history. It’s really a very interesting park.

After that we found a metro map and tried to walk in the direction of another park. We ended up going to completely wrong way but we did find the H and M! And it was just as amazing as it was hyped up to be. I was happy. I got a white furry skirt that I love; something I never would have found in the U.S. He got some mustard yellow pants and a scarf but we both tried on full outfits. It was fun. I want to go back and get more stuff.

After that it was about 7pm and we were both tired. I also wanted to make sure I was home in time for dinner this time because I didn’t want my host mom to be mad at me two days in a row.

Some famous building near Gran Via in Madrid

The cross walk signs are different here, but I think they are cute

Ruinas de San Isidoro

Casita del Pescador

H and M

El Banco de Madrid, I believe

This bear with the tree is the symbol of Madrid

It's Friday, Friday: Retiro Parque, Plaza Mayor and San Miguel Market

This Friday I dedicated to exploring around Madrid. I went to el Parque del Retiro in Madrid with some of my friends. It’s a really famous old park with a bunch of fountains, old buildings and a mini lake that you can rent rowboats on. The rowboats are a big tourist thing to do at Retiro so naturally I had to do it. It is only 5 Euros to rent the boat for 45 minutes that seats up to four people so its pretty affordable. It was fun. The row-paddles were pretty tiny and with my left leg getting in the way with the boot, I wasn’t very good at rowing. However, the sights around the lake were very pretty and we went on a gorgeous day. It was sunny with a slight breeze and a lot of the guys rowing in other boats were shirtless and enjoying the sun.

After the rowing, we all just explored around the park and found this Crystal Palace building that was very pretty. Its walls and ceiling were made completely of glass and it also had a little lake with a fountain outside it and a bubble blowing guy. The inside of the building had works of art from the Reina Sofia (Madrid’s modern art museum) that were kind of weird. I don’t really get modern art but the building itself was beautiful.

After being at Retiro for a while, we decided to go to Plaza Major, just because I have never been there and it is pretty cool. It’s a big square that is famous in Madrid full of restaurants, shops and street performers/entertainers.

Everything is pretty close together in Madrid and we were all hungry so we decided to go check out this market called San Miguel. It’s a big market were they sell seafood, paella, fruit, vegetables, pastries, ice cream and other assorted things in a market format but you can also eat dinner there. It was interesting and very crowded. I got a chorizo empanada. Chorizo is just some kind of raw Spanish meat, similar to pepperoni. It was ok. I don’t really love Spanish meat because most of it is raw, so it’s an adjustment.

After that we all got gelato and I had to go home. I was close to an hour late for dinner (We usually eat at 8pm and it was close to (pm) and my host mom was made I didn’t call. She said she was worried. Whoops. I don’t have her number in my phone yet but I should probably add it for that reason. The rest of the night I just relaxed. I was gone for 6 or 7 hours that day exploring so my foot a bit. 

I'm on a boat

 Parque del Retiro

Row Boating

Outside of the Crystal Palace in Retiro Park

Crystal Palace, artwork from the Reina Sofia (modern art museum) is inside there

Rowing the boat

Plaza Mayor

Mercado de San Miguel